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McCullen v. Coakley, 573 U.S. 464, 134 S.Ct. 2518, 189 L.Ed.2d 502, 82 USLW 4584, 14 Cal. Daily Op. Serv. 7115, 2014 Daily Journal D.A.R. 8317, 24 Fla. L. Weekly Fed. S 929

Facts

In 2007, Massachusetts amended its Reproductive Health Care Facilities Act, making it a crime to knowingly stand on a public way or sidewalk within 35 feet of an entrance or driveway to any reproductive health care facility, where abortions are performed. Sidewalk counselors, who engage women approaching these clinics in counseling, claimed that the buffer zones severely hampered their ability to communicate and offer alternatives to abortion. They filed a lawsuit against the Massachusetts Attorney General, arguing that the statute violated their First and Fourteenth Amendment rights. The District Court denied their challenges, and the First Circuit affirmed the decision.

In 2007, Massachusetts amended its Reproductive Health Care Facilities Act, which had been enacted in 2000 to address clashes between abortion opponents and advocates of abortion rights outside clinics where abortions were performed.

Issue

Does the Massachusetts statute establishing buffer zones around abortion clinics violate the First Amendment?

Whether the Massachusetts statute establishing buffer zones around abortion clinics violates the First Amendment.

Rule

The First Amendment protects speech in traditional public forums, such as sidewalks and public ways, where the government has limited ability to restrict expression. Content-neutral regulations may impose reasonable time, place, and manner restrictions, but they must be narrowly tailored to serve significant governmental interests without unnecessarily burdening speech. If a statute is not content neutral, it must satisfy strict scrutiny.

The government may impose reasonable restrictions on the time, place, or manner of protected speech, provided the restrictions are justified without reference to the content of the regulated speech, that they are narrowly tailored to serve a significant governmental interest, and that they leave open ample alternative channels for communication of the information.

Analysis

The Supreme Court found that the Massachusetts statute was not content-based, as it did not draw distinctions based on the content of speech but rather restricted access to specific locations. However, the Court determined that the statute was not narrowly tailored to serve significant governmental interests, as it imposed substantial burdens on the speech of sidewalk counselors without adequately addressing the issues it aimed to resolve. The Court noted that less restrictive alternatives were available to achieve the same goals.

The Act is not content based simply because it establishes buffer zones only at abortion clinics, as opposed to other kinds of facilities. First, the Act does not draw content-based distinctions on its face. Whether petitioners violate the Act 'depends' not 'on what they say,' but on where they say it.

Conclusion

The Supreme Court held that the Massachusetts statute violated the First Amendment by imposing undue restrictions on free speech in traditional public forums, reversing the lower court's decision.

The Massachusetts Act violates the First Amendment.

Who won?

The sidewalk counselors prevailed in their challenge against the Massachusetts statute. The Supreme Court ruled that the law unconstitutionally restricted their ability to engage in free speech activities near abortion clinics. The Court emphasized that while the state has legitimate interests in maintaining public safety and access to healthcare, the buffer zones created by the statute imposed significant burdens on the counselors' ability to communicate their message effectively. The Court found that the state had not sufficiently explored less intrusive alternatives to address the issues at hand.

The Supreme Court held that the Massachusetts statute violated the First Amendment by imposing undue restrictions on free speech in traditional public forums.

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